The 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball will be an exercise in destination golf. The fifth playing of this championship will take place at Bandon Dunes Resort in Bandon, Ore., which also hosted the inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball in 2015.

The championship doesn’t begin until May 25, 2019, but qualifying runs from Aug. 27, 2018 to March 18, 2019 at 50 sites around the U.S.

The following sides are exempt into the 2019 championship, provided they remain intact:

Kyle Williams, a six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle with the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills, and his partner Greg Berthelot were one of four teams to qualify on Monday for the 5th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship, which will be held on May 25-29 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, in Bandon, Ore. Williams and Berthelot earned medalist honors with an 8-under 64 at the Country Club of Louisiana.

“I am so excited to qualify with my longtime golf buddy,” said Williams, who recorded 48.5 career sacks in 13 seasons for Buffalo and retired following the 2018 campaign. “It was our first crack at it so we were lucky to qualify on the first try.”

Berthelot, who won the 2011 Louisiana Amateur and played his college golf at Centenary, had an eagle and four birdies but Williams was equally involved. He sank a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 6 and set up another birdie by hitting a 70-yard wedge to within 8 feet at the par-5 11th. His biggest contribution may have come when he made par at No. 10 with his partner in trouble. His 9-iron approach flew to the back of the green but his was able to negotiate a 45-foot two-putt.

“We play well together and read putts similarly,” said Williams, a 35-year-old from who was a 2006 fifth-round draft choice and earned All-SEC honors at Louisiana State University (LSU). “When we play off each other we are capable of shooting some good numbers.”

Two sides advanced through qualifying at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif., but one of the most well-known locals was not on either. Derek Ackerman and Matthew McCarty got in with a 63, but four teams behind them tied for second with 65. Teenagers Jackson Lake and Aiden Tran, prevailed in a playoff that also featured Tug Maude, senior marketing manager for a global telecommunications company, and John Sawin, VP and director of golf for Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Lake (17 years old) and Tran (14) are seasoned junior competitors. Tran was T-8 at the 2018 Junior Worlds and Lake competed in this summer’s Boys Junior PGA.

Austin Fox and Kevin Huff, 20-year-old California natives who were high school teammates at Vista Del Lago, were among two sides to advance out of Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento, Calif. Fox, the grandson of former NFL player Harry Hugasian, is now a junior on the University of Pacific golf team. Huff is a sophomore on the Fresno State team. Both players were quarterfinalists at this year’s NCGA Match Play tournament.

Two sides tied for medalist honors at the qualifier at Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto, Fla. Doug Hanzel, a new Georgia State Golf Association Hall of Famer, teamed up with fellow Georgian Bob Royak, who competed in the U.S. Senior Amateur each of the past two years. Alabama players Kevin Carden and John Randall also qualified. Each side had 65.

Jack Slayton, a top senior amateur, was among the four Albuquerque residents to qualify for the Four-Ball at the qualifier in his hometown. Slayton partnered with another local, Sean Carlon, and advanced with a 68 at Canyon Club at Four Hills. Slayton is inside the top 200 in the AmateurGolf.com Senior Rankings. Carlon is a senior on the University of New Mexico team.

Kansans Tyler Cummins and William Gantz put up a 5-under 65 at Kansas City Country Club in Mission Hills, Kan., to take their spot at Bandon Dunes. The two counted a birdie on No. 17 that kep them out of a four-team playoff at 4 under. Danny Admundson and Michael Martz advanced from that.

University of Indianapolis sophomore Oliver Mast and partner Nicolas Osterburg led qualifying at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio, with a 7-under 65. Mast had four top-10 finishes in five fall starts with the Hounds. Osterburg, who plays for the University of Cincinnati, finished a season-best T-4 at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate to highlight his fall.

Scott Harvey, the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, partnered with Todd Mitchell to qualify for the Four-Ball out of the qualifier at Flossmoor (Ill.) Country Club. The pair has qualified for match play in the Four-Ball four times already. Mitchell, a native of Bloomington, Ill., played shortstop for Illinois State instead of playing college golf. He has since competed in 27 USGA championships, including eight U.S. Mid-Amateurs.

Top senior golfers Gene Elliott and Mike McCoy qualified out of Arbor Links Golf Club in Nebraska City, Neb. The pair, who are both members of the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame, combined for a 65 that left them one ahead of Jeff Bell and Elliott Soyez, a Kansas duo who also qualified. Elliott and McCoy also qualified for the Senior Open Championship at St. Andrews earlier this year. They have twice partnered (2015, 2016) to win the Iowa Four-Ball.

Robbie Ziegler, a former member of the Oregon men’s golf team, partnered with Trevor Harding to qualify for the Four-Ball in his home state. Ziegler, who now lives in Portland, also won the Oregon Amateur this summer. The pair shared medalist honors with Brodie Jordan and Austin Spicer, fellow Oregonians, when both sides posted 64 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland.

The teams of Reid Bedell and Matt Carter, and Weston Bell and Robert Lutomski both shot rounds of 9-under 63 to share medalist honors and earn the two qualifying spots at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh, N.C. None of the qualifiers were North Carolina residents.

Longtime friends and University of Maryland alums Josh Notes and Andrew Rice, in addition to Sean Semenetz and Jack Wallace, carded respective 7-under-par 65s to advance from the qualifier at Philadelphia Cricket Club in Flourtown, Pa.

“It feels good to put up a good number and make it worth a day,” Rice, 34, of Parkton, Md., said. “We’ve been close [to qualifying] before. We were able to keep the card clean.”

“Here’s the short version [of our round]: I have not played much golf this year. Sean has been playing great this year,” Wallace, 34, of Norristown, Pa., said. “He knew he would have to carry me going in. Even with that burden, he went out and made six birdies and one eagle. Lights out. One of the guys in our group said he was the best putter he’s ever seen. Not my words.”

As for Semenetz and Wallace, the pair has now qualified for event four times in its five-year history. They were asked by a Golf Association of Philadelphia writer why they excel in this format.

“I was thinking about this on the way in. What I wonder is, ‘Are the two of us this good, or is the rest of the Philadelphia scene just not that good?’” Wallace said jokingly before elaborating. “I don’t know. We ham and egg it.”

Trent Peterson, the newly minted Minnesota Mid-Amateur champion, and partner Troy Johnson led qualifying out of the Chaska (Minn.) Town Course. The pair went 8 under to safely qualify. David Morgan and Justin Smith emerged from a three-team tie to take the second qualifying spot.

Scott Shingler and partner Justin Young were one of two teams to post 63 at the Country Club of Petersburg (Va.) and advance to the tournament at Bandon Dunes. Shingler, a dental assistant, won the 2011 Virginia State Amateur and the 2010 Virginia State Mid-Amateur. His partner Young was the 2017 Virginia State Mid-Amateur champion.

Keith Guest and partner Don Carpenter advanced out of the qualifier at Berkeley Hills Country Club in Duluth, Ga., with a 64. Guest and Carpenter also played the 2018 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, advanced to match play but falling in the first round to eventual runners-up Chip Brooke and Marc Dull. Matt Hendrix and Michael Sims also advanced with 64. Both teams had to advance through a three-team playoff at 64.

Two teams qualified at Greystone Golf Club in Dickson, Tenn., with rounds of 63. Michigan natives Nicholas Bonema and Michael Busse combined to shoot that number and Ben Fish and Matt Mitchell will join them at Bandon Dunes. Bonema is a former member of the Loyola Chicago golf team and Busse plays for Austin Peay State.

Days after defending his title at the Alabama Mid-Amateur, Stewart Whitt has qualified for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. He and partner Wes Williams, a former Baylor player and assistant coach who works for College Golf Fellowship, had a 63 at Turtle Point Yacht & Country Club in Killen, Ala., to take the second of two qualifying spots.

Canadians Eric Pattenaude and Adam Graham led qualifiers at the Country Club of Lansing (Mich.) Pattenaude is just a few weeks removed from competing in the U.S. Mid-Amateur, where he missed the cut.

Teammates from Hillsdale College, an NCAA Division II school in Hillsdale, Mich., took the second and final spot. Andrew Grayson and Liam Purslowe had to defeat Isaac Buerger and Jacob Tarkany in a playoff to advance.

Caleb Proveaux and his partner Zachary McLain flirted with 59 at Florence (S.C.) Country Club, but landed on 10-under 60 instead to safely take medalist honors in Four-Ball qualifying. Proveaux is a junior at the University of South Carolina, and the younger brother of Cody Proveaux, a former PGA Tour player who now is the assistant men’s golf coach at Virginia Commonwealth University. McLain, meanwhile, is a sophomore at Erskine College. Both are South Carolina natives.

Three sides finished with 7-under 63, but Eastern Carolina teammates Logan Shuping and Blake Taylor advanced through a playoff.

Nathan Colson and Jason Gaare, two former Marquette players, are into the Four-Ball. The Wisconsin natives led qualifying at the Legend at Merrill Hills at Waukesha, Wis., with a 66. Two other Wisconsin residents – David Brock and Brian Thiet – also got in with 67.

Jonas Mikals, of Truckee, Calif., has played in the 2014 and 2017 U.S. Mid-Amateur. Now he can add a U.S. Amateur Four-Ball to his list. He and partner Dustin Hall of Sparks, Nev., earned the only qualifying spot out of the qualifier at Somersett Country Club in Reno, Nev.

Joe Panzeri, a real estate agent in Boise, Idaho, who played college golf for the University of Washington and San Diego, took the only qualifying spot out of Timberstone Golf Course in Caldwell, Idaho, with partner Art Lynch. The pair combined for a 63, then won a playoff for the qualifying spot.

Qualifiers: Art Lynch (Boise, Idaho) & Joe Panzeri (Boise, Idaho) 63

Ticket punched! Congrats to Joe Panzeri and Art Lynch of Boise for qualifying for the 2019 @usga Four-Ball at Bandon Dunes!!! Art made a birdie putt on the first playoff hole to grab the spot over first alternates Lee Reed and Andrew Smith. Thank you to @TimberStoneGCID#IdahoGApic.twitter.com/8CXoEwht7g

Last fall, Brady Dixon got his 15 minutes of fame for hitting a ping-pong ball across his house, down the stairs and into a red Solo Cup. A start at the U.S. Amateur followed and now, Dixon and partner Sam Migdal have earned a spot in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Bandon Dunes. Dixon graduated from Southern Illinois Edwardsville, where he played on the golf team, last spring. Migdal played for Central Missouri State and won the 2016 Missouri Amateur. The two took one of two spots at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Kory Bowman, who made it to the third round of match play at the U.S. Mid-Amateur, also qualified with partner Jason Schultz. Both sides had 64.

Tyler Moore, a redshirt junior at UC Irvine, and partner Cullen Brasfield took the top spot at the Oaks Club in Valencia, Calif. The pair had 8-under 64 to finish one shot clear of a three-team playoff for the second spot. Brasfield is a former college golfer at San Diego University and the University of Nevada.

Two teams tied for medalist honors at the qualifier at Broadlands Golf Course in Bloomfield, Colo. Alex Kephart and Kurtis Lucas opened with a birdie (courtesy of Lucas) and never looked back on the way to a 10-under 62. Kyle Danford and David Johnson also got to that number.

Randy Haag and partner Jason Anthony made up one of two sides to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball out of Sonoma (Calif.) Golf Club. Haag, an NCGA standout who was runner-up in the 2018 British Senior Amateur, started hot on the first three holes with birdie-eagle-birdie, then Anthony picked up the torch and added four birdies over the next eight holes. Anthony was 4 under on his own ball on the back, and that led the twosome into the championship.

Ian Albrecht and Travis Peterson were even more impressive, using a 13-under 59 to claim medalist honors. Peterson led the team with 10 birdies and an eagle, and overlapped Albrecht birdies two times.

The duo of Shawn Baker and Jim Scorse collaborated for a 6-under 66 on the Robert Trent Jones, Sr.-designed Crag Burn Golf Club in East Aurora, N.Y., to earn medalist honors.

Behind them, two teams finished tied at 67, including Connor Salanger and Kyle Roy as well as Andrew Fretthold and Nathan Peck. The two teams battled throughout a four-hole playoff before Salanger and Roy secured the qualifying spot with a birdie on the par-4 eleventh.

Brothers Ethan and Jeremy Wall of Brielle, N.J., were among three sides to qualify out of Green Brook Country Club in North Caldwell, N.J. Both players are recent graduates of Loyola Maryland University, and will go to work for the family Ford/Lincoln dealership this fall. Jeremy already won the Philadelphia Amateur this summer.

Interestingly, a third Wall – younger brother Jack – was part of another advancing side. Jack Wall and partner Brendan Hansen took medalist honors at the qualifier with 9-under 62. The youngest Wall, who is 17, nearly advanced through U.S. Open qualifying this summer. Wall and Hansen are teammates who have led Christian Brothers Academy of Lincroft to consecutive NJSIAA Tournament of Champions titles.

Turns out the Walls will be making a family trip to Bandon Dunes next spring. Ethan, 23, and Jeremy, 22, had already driven home by the time they found out about it.

“We followed the leaderboard from home and thought there were several groups that could jump ahead of us. Now, we’re going to have a great family trip to Bandon Dunes. My father (George) and older brother (Augie) were out their last fall and had a great time.”

Three teams posted rounds of 6-under 66 at Canterwood G&CC in Gig Harbor, Wash., but ultimately only two could advance to the U.S. Four-Ball. The teams of Ben Garrett and Erik Hanson and Cody Roth and Craig Roth prevailed in the playoff and earned their spot at Bandon Dunes.

This is the second time Garrett and Hanson have qualified for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball after qualifying for the 2017 championship. Hanson has qualified for three U.S. Mid-Amateurs and was named WSGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year in 2016; Garrett won the WSGA Men’s Best-Ball Championship with partner Erik Olson in 2016.

This marks the first time the father and son duo of Craig and Cody Roth have qualified for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. Earlier this year the Roths won their third WSGA Parent-Child Championship. Cody is a senior on the Western Washington University men’s golf team.

Information from Washington State Golf Association used in this write-up

For the third time in five years, the team of Matt Parziale and Herbie Aikens will play the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. The two-time Massachusetts Four-Ball Champions (they won that title in 2016 and 2017) secured the second and final spot in a sudden-death playoff at the qualifier at the Country Club of Pittsfield (Mass.).

“We have tried to qualify all five years and actually started playing together in the state four-ball because of this tournament,” Parziale told Mass Golf. “We have tried to play as much as we can together to try and make a run. We have not had much success so far, but we are happy to have another chance.”

Bay State golfers Jacob Zaranek, a rising sophomore on the Fairfield University men’s golf team, and playing partner Kyle Puzzo were one of the three teams to solidify their starts to next year’s golfing schedule. All three teams that qualified out of Boston Golf Club in Hingham, Mass., tied for medalist honors at 8-under 64. Zaranek and Puzzo will each be making their first career appearance in a USGA championship when they tee it up at Bandon Dunes.

“It feels so good to qualify for the Four-Ball Championship,” the 20-year old Zaranek told Mass Golf. “It’s amazing. It’s so cool that we were able to get it going today, that we played well, and I’m so excited to go out there and try to play well again.”

Alexander Butler and Connor Schmidt combined for an unreal round of 13-under 58 at Oglebay Resort (Palmer Course) in Wheeling, W.Va., to take one of two spots. Schmidt logged eight birdies on the day, plus an eagle. Butler added an eagle at a birdie at the 18th to get the team to 58. Interestingly, they only won medalist honors by a single shot. Jeffrey Long and Michael Brennan came in right behind them with a round of 12-under 59.